We’re familiar with the salty taste of sweat and the sweet synthetic taste of flavoured lube, but have you ever wondered what semen in meant to taste like?
It’s long since been debated. Does pineapple make it sweeter? Is a mouthful packed with protein? (You can thank Christina Aguilera for that one.)
Just this week, one redditor questioned on r/sex why their partner’s ejaculate tastes nice.
‘Despite their diet not being anything great, their semen is very mild in taste, it’s oddly good,’ they wrote. ‘Especially in comparison to everyone else I’ve tasted.
‘[But] my friends say that all the cum they’ve tasted has never been mild in flavour, or even something they’d think tastes good.’
So we thought we’d clear up the confusion and ask a sexual health nurse what semen should taste like…
The taste of semen
‘Semen doesn’t have one specific ‘taste’, but most people describe it as mildly salty, slightly bitter, or musky, which is completely normal,’ sexual health nurse, Sarah Mulindwa, for Lovehoney tells Metro.
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‘Its flavour comes from a mix of proteins, enzymes, sugars like fructose, and minerals such as zinc and sodium, all of which naturally influence taste.’
If you’re looking for something to compare it to, Sarah says it’s ‘a bit like seawater or unsweetened protein powder’.
‘Anything slightly salty, metallic, or alkaline,’ she adds. ‘It’s rarely sweet, despite common myths, but it shouldn’t taste strongly unpleasant either.’
Of course, semen is usually warm too, because it’s released at body temperature.
So, warm salty thick sea water. Mmmm.
What influences taste?
Everything we consume from food to fluids is broken down and processed by the body, and can all have a baring on how semen tastes. It’s not pineapple we should be focusing on, though.
‘While the changes are usually subtle, overall health and hydration tend to have the biggest impact,’ Sarah says.
‘Staying well hydrated is one of the most important factors, because dehydration can make semen taste stronger or more bitter.’
If you’re a smoker or drink alcohol excessively, as well as eat a lot of processed foods, the sexual health nurse says this will ‘contribute to a harsher taste’.
‘Similarly, a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables may “improve” the taste slightly,’ Sarah adds.
‘Ultimately, it’s important to remember that semen is a bodily fluid. It’s not supposed to be a flavoured product.’
When it comes to STIs, they don’t usually change the taste of semen, although the nurse explains they can alter smell, colour or consistency.
Semen should typically be a milky white or slightly greyish colour, but again, slight variations are normal.
‘If semen has a strong, foul odour or unusual appearance, it’s a good idea to get checked, not because of taste alone, but as part of looking after sexual health,’ Sarah says.
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What should the consistency be like?
‘Fresh semen is typically thick and jelly-like at first, then becomes more liquid within about 15 to 30 minutes,’ Sarah explains.
‘This change is completely normal and helps sperm move more effectively.
‘If it’s occasionally thicker or thinner, that can be influenced by hydration, frequency of ejaculation, and overall health.’
How much protein does semen have?
Dr Danae Maragouthakis of Yoxly, an Oxford-based sexual health startup, previously told Metro: ‘Essentially the average volume of semen or ejaculate is about 5mls, and the components of that semen will change with age and with health.
‘So not every man is going to produce the same amount of protein in their semen or have the same amount of spermatozoa in their semen.
‘The volume of ejaculate, will depend on the last time he masturbated, sometimes it’ll be a little bit more sometimes it’ll be a little bit less.
‘So in terms of the protein content, you’re going to get maybe a quarter of a gram to half a gram of protein, depending on the man, in each 5ml volume of ejaculate. So on average, there is 250mg (or 0.25g) of protein in 5ml of ejaculate fluid.
‘If you compare that to egg whites for example, one large egg white contains 3.6 grams of protein so you would need to drink a couple of gallons of sperm to meet the recommended daily dietary protein requirement (which is usually 46g or 56g of protein per day!), which I do not recommend, in order to make up for that protein content.’
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